Getting Good Character

One of the most inspiring things that the Rev. Martin Luther King said was, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”  Although this has special meaning for persons who are persecuted because of their race or ethnicity, it is a statement that rings true for all people.

It also bids us ask, “What is good character?”  I love brainyquotes.com.  Click on the link https://www.brainyquote.com/search_results?q=character and you will find quote after quote on the subject of character.  Les Brown said, “Our ability to handle life's challenges is a measure of our strength of character.” We agree that how we deal with life’s tests, and the persistence we show in dealing with them, reveals the “content of our character.”

My father told me that we make a mistake when we do wrong thinking that nobody will find out.  He said the truth about what we do will always be exposed.  In my own experience, my most embarrassing and humiliating moments have come at times when what Dad told me came to pass.

Jackson Brown, Jr. said, “Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking.”  J.C. Watts stated the same thing a little differently, “Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught.”  I found that the criminals I met while working in a prison often believed that their biggest mistake was not breaking the law; but getting caught.

Most of the wrong I have done in my life was done in the hope that, “Nobody will ever know.”  Some of it was also done because I didn’t care about good character anymore and wanted to do what I thought would gratify my sinful nature.  When you do bad things, it is difficult to like yourself; because it is hard to like a self-serving jerk. (read Romans 7:15-25)  You can become so calloused that you even congratulate yourself for the enjoyment you got from sin, but there is always something that gnaws at you … that won’t let you alone.  God knows all things and you know in your heart that you will have to face Him someday. (Hebrews 4:12-13)

If we try, in our own strength, to have good character, to live a good life and do the right thing, we will fail.  We may look good on the outside, but God knows what we are really like – what we think, feel, say, and do when we believe that, “Nobody will ever know.”  Or, when we just don’t care. I praise God that He showed me that good character doesn't come from the self.  It comes from God.

If we trust Jesus for our Salvation, the Holy Spirit resides in us.  If we surrender ourselves to the control of the Holy Spirit, He will give us the strength and desire to live in ways that please Him, and not to please the sinful nature. (Romans 8: 5-9).  God will cause you to, “… will and act according to his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:13 NIV)  Only surrender and let the Holy Spirit work.  That is why Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself  and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23 NIV)

Want to have good character? “Those who obey His commands live in Him, and He in them.  And this is how we know that He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave us.”  (1John 3:24 NIV)